Fun Trivial Facts

Well, as promised, tonight we provide some more fun trivial facts. Even though this may be a short week for many, the stress of the holiday can be almost worse than working a full 5-day work week. So, to help you lighten your load, here are some fun trivial facts to annoy your friends and entertain at the Thanksgiving dinner table:

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin thought that the turkey was so American that he wanted it as our National symbol instead of the Bald Eagle?

Until 1863, Thanksgiving Day had not been celebrated annually since the first feast in 1621. This changed in 1863 when Sarah Josepha Hale encouraged Abraham Lincoln to set aside the last Thursday in November "as a day for National Thanksgiving and Prayer."

90% of American homes eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day and 50% eat turkey on Christmas.

Mature turkeys have about 3,500 feathers. The Apache Indians considered the wild turkey so timid that they would not eat it or use the turkey's feathers on their arrows.

It appears that turkeys originated in North and Central America. Evidence indicates that they have been around for over 10 million years. So, if you think the bird on the dinner table is tough, perhaps it was an OLD turkey...

Did you know that a spooked wild turkey can run at speeds up to 20-25 miles per hour? They can also burst into flight approaching speeds between 50 and 55 mph in a matter of seconds. That is great, except for the fact that they can only fly for short distances. Don't try getting a domestic turkey to fly, they cannot.

Turkeys can have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead. I bet the farmers were a tad irritated about that... I suspect this only relates to farm raised (domesticated) turkeys. I can't imagine that wild turkeys would be so delicate. The wild turkeys are very cunning...

Wild turkeys have excellent vision and hearing. Their field of vision is about 270 degrees which is why they continue to evade some hunters. They (the turkeys) can also see in color.

While the turkey has excellent hearing, they do not have ears

Turkeys (again domestic) can drown if they look up when it is raining.

A 16-week old turkey is called a "fryer", a 5 to 7 month old turkey is called a "young roaster" and a 1 year old turkey is called a "yearling". Any turkey older than 15 months is called "mature" (like so many of us...)

Turkey breeding has caused turkey's breasts to grow so large that the turkeys fall over...

A turkey's head changes colors when it is excited...so do some people I know...ooohh, shouldn't have said that ...hehehe..

Lastly, each year the President of the United States pardons at least one turkey. During the Bush (W.) Administration, his dog almost ate the pardoned turkey...ooops... All the pardoned turkeys live the rest of their natural lives without worrying about being someone's dinner.

Really last...the earliest claim of presidents pardoning turkeys was mentioned by George W. Bush in 2001. According to his statement, the origins of the president pardoning a turkey date back to Abraham Lincoln, who pardoned his son Tad's pet turkey while Lincoln was president.

Hopefully you enjoyed your Turkey Fun Trivial Facts for this week.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend and don't forget to say a prayer of Thanksgiving to our soldiers who continue to protect our freedoms.

Until tomorrow (or most likely Sunday since I will be preparing/cooking TURKEY and the fixings starting tomorrow evening...)...